Not The Real You
by Belldame
Summary: "Believe me, princess, you and your kin would not want to see the real me. Just as your people would not want to see the real you."


Title: Not the Real you

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It was fair to say that, after all these years, Toffee had become a master of charade. He'd learnt early how to hide his true self behind a facade.

There is a certain art to it, really. There is a certain craft that salespeople have, that makes them good at gouging their clients personality and playing to it. Lawyers have it, consultants have it, and to a certain extent royalty as it. No one tolerates fault in their peddler, and no one can bare to think that their powerful leaders are just as prone to foolishness as they are.

Ludo is a fool and a buffoon, and the only reason he still as an army is because his soldiers are dumber than he is. They hold on to a sort of affectionate admiration for Ludo. He is, after all, the only one who picked them up of the street. Ludo might not be the best leader, but he is the only leader that will have them.

It's the only link that unites them.

It's nothing that Toffee can't break.

Toffee is nothing like the other monsters, and that dazzles them. He puts on a facade of poise, restraint, confidence, elegance, foresight, judgment and intellect. To them, Toffee knows what he's doing, and he knows he has their admiration even before their mouths drop with surprise.

There's a certain price to pay for this facade of brilliance; he cannot be privy to emotional outburst. He cannot be annoyed -annoyed would mean he was impatient. He cannot be angry, -angry would mean he doesn't have control. He cannot show desires -for desires would mean he can be corrupted.

Any lesser monster would have cracked under the pressure, but Toffee is not like most monsters. He has the benefit of having lived for so long. He's learned from his mistakes, he's matured, more than most, he's had time to practice. He's an adult.

' _You fat piece of garbage.'_

It's funny how many legions he's destroyed this way.

* * *

Poise.

Restraint.

Confidence.

Elegance.

He cannot be privy to emotional outburst.

And memories, just like magic spells, can do so much harm.

"You're a disappointment."

Toffee turns to leave, cold and distant. He's found what he was looking for, Star Butterfly's little friend. He planted the seed where he needed to plant them. The human boy was as corruptible as any - a disappointment. Nothing for him to-

"Yes? Well, you're boring, and you dress light a lawyer."

" _Why do you never do anything you like to do?"_

" _Would it make a difference? I'm here to-"_

" _It would make a difference, Toffee! I don't know anything about you! I don't know what you like, I don't know what your past is, I don't even know what gets you upset! I don't know what the real you is like. It's like… you're not a real person, underneath..."_

" _Believe me, princess, you and your kin would not want to see the real me. Just as your people would not want to see the real you-"_

" _Oh stop Toffee! I get that speech enough from my family, but I was hoping that you, as my friend, would understand! Toffee, look at me, I'm sick of people always telling me to be the best perfect I can be. I'm suffocating! I don't know how you manage. Toffee, look at me. You know what I think? You know what I think you are?"_

" _Moon, you -!"_

" _I don't think you're anything, Toffee, deep down. You might have superficial charm on the surface, but you're boring. You're just boring."_

* * *

" _You made it -Oowf!"_

He hates this family, and their obnoxious sparkles and butterfly magic.

Contrary to many Queens before her, Star Butterfly is not one to bend to class and poise. She does not seem to have the restraint of the great when dealing with magic -nor does she seem to care for it-, and when she rushes to the human boy's cage, banging on his window with rows and rows of explosive glowing caterpillars and rainbow rockets, she shows the full extend of her explosive personality. Her emotional outbursts powers the wand, with a sort of chime, a sort of rhymes that neither Moon, nor Eclipse, nor Toffee has ever quite had.

The two are nothing but immature children, Star and Marco do not hide how much they need each other, how much their emotions fuel the other, how much they enjoy life and how much more explosive the other makes it. They show how much they care for each other. It's extraordinarily reckless, but it's also something that Toffee is not quite used to seeing. He allows himself one thought on his enemy's parenting: How could this spastic little gremlin be Moon's daughter?

The glass ceiling starts to lower, soon to crush it's little prisoner. Star cries and fights and pushes against it, and Toffee knows she'll do anything to save her friend.

" _Nonononononono-!"_

" _That's not going to work again, that crystal is twice as strong now."_

It's amazing how weak love makes your opponent. It didn't even take a solid minute for the little Butterfly to drop her wand - _the most powerful tool in the universe!-_ into his plate, as an offering to him. Did she even fathom who he could be?

 _"Fine, take it."_ She says, and points to the cage.

 _"Now let Marco go."_

It really is amazing how much one can lose… for love.

 _"I don't want your wand."_

Her little, childish eyes go wide with surprise, and he can read the full extend of her shock.

 _"Destroy it."_

Her face flashes with befuddlement, shock, amazement, despair, and incredulity. All emotions Toffee has never allowed himself to express.

And for a split second he can't anymore.

" _Surprise!"_

* * *

He leans over the crib. The baby is only half asleep, staring heavenwards to the sky. She is an innocent little thing, with round cheeks, potted limbs, and the mark of his enemies on her face.

He can't think of anything to do that wouldn't be low, beneath the elegant persona he'd refined. But then again there was no good way to deal with your enemy's child.

He reaches down, and, with surprising gentleness, traces the baby's nose.

 _"Toffee!? W-what are you doing here?"_ Moon says.

He doesn't immediately turn around. He keeps staring at the baby. She has her father's blond hair, the father's blue eyes, her mother's face, and those little hearts on her cheek that spread in Mewman blood like disease. She is her's mother's daughter, and she is also the daughter of someone else. And there is something raw that opens up inside him and boils behind his eyes.

"Toffee…" Moon's voice is a little harder, "Get away from her."

He stands straights, and when his eyes flash over to Moon, she chokes back a gasp. Toffee's facade breaks a little, and for the first time, Moon sees a bit of what lies beneath.

* * *

 _ **I call the Darkness underneath,**_

" _I can't… I don't even know how…"_

" _Yes you do. It's the first spell you're mother taught you."_

 _ **Of deepest depth from earth and sea.**_

" _Hello Moon."_

 _ **To blackest night I pledge my soul,**_

" _I didn't know this would happen! I thought they wanted to know the real Star Butterfly!"_

" _They don't Star… They just want to believe that you are a perfect little princess, and sometimes… the truth is dangerous."_

 _ **And crush my heart,**_

Maybe things could have gone differently, maybe things wouldn't have gotten so bad. Maybe if Moon hadn't been so loyal, and maybe if Toffee hadn't been so bent on revenge they could have… but that would have never been: Moon wouldn't have become Queen, and Toffee could never get his vengeance.

And he just couldn't live with that.

 _ **To summon forth the deathly power,**_

There was nothing left between them, except for bitter memories and underlying hatred.

When he appears again, before her, Moon does not hide the shock and fear in her eyes. Beyond reckless, he finds. He had always been good with his facade, he'd always assumed that Moon would be just as good, but years had passed and she had gotten softer.

She readies her sword, and he readies his own.

 _ **To see my hated foe devoured.**_

" _Have you learnt nothing?"_

* * *

 **A/N: Just a little something to get through to the month of July.**

 **Reviews and comments are always greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading.**


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